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Articles on Murder rate

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Bricks, laid out in front of Congress, represent the staggering number of Brazilians killed each week. Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Brazil’s biggest problem isn’t corruption — it’s murder

Some 60,000 Brazilians are killed each year, accounting for 10% of all homicides worldwide. As terrorised voters look to authoritarian leaders to impose order, Brazil’s democracy hangs in the balance.
Some 13 people ‘disappear’ in Mexico every day, and the country is on track to record 30,000 homicides this year. Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

Is Mexico actually the world’s second most murderous nation?

A controversial report claims that Mexico is more violent than Afghanistan and Yemen. It’s wrong on the details but right that Mexico is, in effect, a war zone.
South Africa needs to urgently work out why its high rate of fatal violence is not slowing. Shutterstock

Murder on the rise as South Africa fails to stem high crime rates

South Africa has stubbornly high rates of violent crime. More concerning, though, is that the latest crime stats suggest the recent increase in murders is not slowing - it may even continue.
A man walks through a field of crosses erected near Pretoria, South Africa, to honour mostly white farmers who have died in. farm attacks. Reuters/Juda Ngwenya

Facts show South Africa has not become more violent since democracy

The widely-held assumption that murder rates have been increasing in South Africa in the past two decades is incorrect – and it may divert attention from a new problem that needs attention.
In response to the surge of crime in the mid-1990s, suburban dwellers in South Africa began to fortress their houses. Shutterstock

Beyond the unthinkable? City dwellings without security walls

In response to high levels of crime, South Africans have turned their homes into fortresses, seeking security behind high walls. But doing so might be counter-productive.

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